Training opportunities at Harvard
- Check out resources and trainings through Harvard Catalyst (career mentoring program for postdocs, panels on career pathways in clinical and translational research, in industry, etc.)
- Lots of training opportunities on the Harvard Training Portal (trainings from the Center for Workplace Development, Professional Development, Research Administration, LinkedIn Learning… and a lot more!)
- Free career eventsfor postdocs and research associates on the Harvard Ed Portal.
- Resources to make the most of your postdoc/research associate appointment on the Harvard Chan School Career Office website
- The Office of Faculty Affairs organizes various Orientations, Workshops and Courses for Postdoctoral fellows too.
- Stay up to date with all the events happening at the Harvard Chan School, by exploring the ENGAGE platform.
Career Development during your time at Harvard
Creating an Individual Development/Career Plan
- Mandatory: Make sure that you set up your Career Development Plan & Annual Review meetingwith your advisor as required by the Office of Faculty Affairs of the Harvard Chan School
- Why is it so important to have a Career Plan (or at least think about your next career step)?
- The first step: knowing who you are!
- Then, use one of the options below to craft your career plan:
- Feel like you need a Career coach to guide you through this? Please note that postdocs and research associates do not have access (yet) to the Career Coaching services from Harvard’s CareerConnect. Please note that you may have to pay for the coaching services below. Also, these are only suggestions, the list below is not exhaustive.
- If you think/feel like it would be a great opportunity for you to have a coach, you can have a look at ICF Find a Coach, a database of professional career/leaderships coaches that can be searched by geographic region or expertise in certain industries.
- You can also have a look at Coach4Postdocs – Career Coaching and Professional Development Training for MS, PhDs, & Postdocs, by Dr Tracy Costello.
- Another option with PhD Power: Chiat Cheong, PhD, is a career coach who supports PhDs in their career development, so that they can unveil their PhD power in a job that suits their interests and skills.
Advice to write Articles & Communicate your Science
Resources for Grant Writing & Funding Opportunities
Exploring and Applying for jobs in Academia
- Exploring career options in academia & advice from senior academics
- Finding job opportunities
- A useful website to search for Research jobs in Europe:Â https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs
- Explore job positions on Nature Careers
- Find your next Science and Research Job with CellCareer!
- And do not forget university websites, social networks like Twitter, conferences and other networking events, etc.
- Applying for jobs in academia
- Workshops and talks about finding and applying for a job in Academia with the YouTube channel from NIH – OITE(Office of Intramural Training and Education)
- How to Apply for an Academic Position (CV, statements, interview, etc.), jobs.ac.uk
- Need help to communicate your science or to write proposals and statements? The Communication Labfrom the Broad Institute is here to help, with advice, examples and templates (CommKit) and counseling (Make an appointment).
- Guide to writing cover letters, NIH-OITE
- Guide to writing CVs and Résumés, NIH-OITE
- Differences and Similarities between CVs in Academia vs Industry, Recruiter’s report
- The Scientist’s Conundrum: CV, Resume or Something In-Between? by Laura Stark
- Guide to writing letters for a faculty position, NIH-OITE
- Article How to design a chalk talk – the million dollar sales pitch, Eric Lee Snapp,Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2019
Exploring career options and successfully Transitioning outside of Academia
- Exploring career options outside of academia
- Networking & Informational Interviews
- How to ask for an Informational Interview and Get a Yes!, The Muse
- A step-by-step guide on Informational Interviews, NIH-OITE
- Resources about online networking and LinkedIn, Sabrina Woods
- Exploring career options and Networking with PhDs who successfully transitioned outside of Academia, via researching.io and smarttribe.io
- PhD Career Networking Group on LinkedIn– this LinkedIn group shares a lot of job postings/good information – all scientific backgrounds are welcome!
- Join the INetNYC network (also on LinkedIn) to meet with postdocs from New York City, and be informed of career events in and outside Academia (Science Diplomacy, Consulting, Application scientist, Regulations, Research & Development, Medical Writing, Medical Science Liaison, etc.)
- Join us on LinkedIn and join other groups on LinkedIn, Twitter and so on to stay tuned on topics of interest to you!
- Getting ready to transition to your next career step
- Applying for jobs and getting interviewed
- Explore your options, get CV templates and more with jobs.ac.uk!
- Cover letters – Are they worth it?, by Sam Barrett, Recruiter’s Report (you can find more resources on the Recruiter’s Report website).
- Guide to writing cover letters, NIH-OITE
- Guide to writing CVs and Résumés, NIH-OITE
- The Scientist’s Conundrum: CV, Resume or Something In-Between? by Laura Stark
- Differences and Similarities between CVs in Academia vs Industry, Recruiter’s report
- Writing a Resume for a Job in Industry, YouTube video by Biomed Badass
- jobscan.co helps you compare your resume and cover letter to the posted job description (very useful since the 1st round of application screening is done by a robot army now)
- How to Succeed in a Virtual Interview, Indeed
- Sweaty Palms: The Neglected Art of Being Interviewed, by Anthony Medley
Management/Leadership Resources
Other career resource repositories, training, and networking opportunities
- More training opportunities on this topic on popular web-platforms: edx.org, Coursera (and the Harvard Training Portal as well!)
- Strategies and Trends for Today’s Job Search, CareerSherpa
- Writing a professional email, NIH-OITE
- Career resources, events and networking with MassBio
- Career resources for PhDs, by Christopher Caterine
- Career advice with The Muse
- Science Careers, by AddGene
- Join the Association of Women In Science to network and advocate towards more Equity in Science
- Self-help resources – Communication, negotiation, and conflict resolution, by HMS
- The Portable PhD, by Patrick and Ashleigh Gallagher, for people who got a PhD in Psychology
- The MIT has a nice Career & Professional Development website (capd.mit.edu)